Two Summits for the Boss

The Trip Report

Okay what two summits do you take your boss to (and my friend CompleteMountain) when your boss wants to go hiking. The answer, Amabilis and Red Top. I felt bad for him because the only mountain he has done in Washington is Mount Si and he gave me a raise so I decided to show him two easier summits with good views.

I was looking for something fairly easy which I had not done yet would be good to bring two beginning hikers on. I checked out some of my hiking book and Amabilis and Red Top seemed perfect. And with the weather not being so sunny my plans worked even better than expected.

Round One: Red Top

I started out with Red Top as a great warm up. I have wanted to go up to this lookout tower for two years but for some reasons I couldn't get anyone interested because it was way too easy. Well this was going to make a perfect round one. And after going over a soggy Snoqualmie Pass it clear up nicely as we pulled onto Highway 97. After maneuvering up the dirt road to the trailhead, we quickly got out of the car and headed for Red Top. Soon we were on the summit and enjoyed some amazing views of the Enchantments and of the Teanaway Region. Rainier was just peaking over the clouds.

After hanging at the lookout tower, we then headed to the rock outcrop to enjoy more views. After 15 minutes and a bunch of photos it was time for Amabilis Mountain.

Round Two: Amabilis Mountain

I headed here thinking this was a gated road walk to the summit. To my surprise it wasn't gated. I wanted a workout and my boss wanted one too so we pulled off on the bottom and walked to the summit. The weather began out sort of crummy with light showers throughout the day. We continued up at good pace and made from the base to the summit in about 1 and 1 /2 hour (I believe 5 miles one way).

The views from the summit rocks of Amabilis Mountain were very beautiful. It actually was quiet a surprise. The shots of Kachess Lake made this trip very special. And the clouds cleared seconds after we reached the summit. Man I was very lucky on this one. After about a half hour we decide to head back. It turned out to be a great time for all. And two more summit areas down. :up: :up: